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Neutral
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Aspen didn't make it as far as the door unlike the princes. He had walked inside, smirking. Inside there was a beautiful young woman with caramel brown hair. Her back was turned as she was counting register money with one hand and the other holding a coffee. She was whispering sharp curses to herself as she worked. "afternoon, Cassandra," He leaned across the counter, his gaze reflecting an emotion of mischief. "Oh if I was mistaken, that voice sounds like infamous Aspen Rhodes," The woman turned around and grinned. She had a rather strong country accent. She moved from being the counter and the two hugged,"Oh my god, boy. How have you been?" The two were lifelong friends. They both grew up being the best of friends from their hometown. Cassandra was the first friend he ever had and for a while, they were roommates. Well until they both couldn't afford the rent of the large apartment and decided to go their separate ways. Visiting this particular antique shop was their first stop for a reason. "My goodness, you have gotten thin these days," Cassandra pulled away from the hug, her hands resting on his sides,"I'm gonna have to pay my granny to come down here and fatten you up." |
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Darkseeker
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Avery followed his brother to the counter, only half paying attention to anything. He was still slightly lost in the past, and started to wish he'd brought the book with him, when suddenly, they were at the counter. Avery raised an eyebrow at the girl there, who had her hands on Aspen's sides. He was mildly repulsed, wishing they'd given a warning that vomiting was a high possibility when coming to the counter.
He loudly cleared his throat, and leaned against a bit of the counter farther away, leaning on his elbows.
"Sorry for interrupting...but Robbie has a question." he gestured towards his brother and the cat, and when he saw Robbie's face, he felt slightly better. The younger boy looked horrified and highly disgusted by what he'd just witnessed. "Does that statue match what you were going for?" Avery asked. At the same time, Robbie turned towards Avery. "But I thought you guys-" he cut off as Avery stepped on his foot, knowing it would make him shut up. He gave his brother the evil eye, and Robbie seemed to get the memo, and held out the cat.
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Neutral
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Aspen heard a throat clear and turned to look He hadn't heard them approach since he was talking to Cassandra. It had been awhile since he had seen her last. Even longer since he had a job that was after more vintage appeal. Both princes looked disgusted, especially Prince Robbie. His own expression matched one of confusion to why they were looking at him like that. He heard the prince's question and approached them to take a look at what Prince Robert had found. He thought it would be a good fit, speaking that he planned on finding a little black table to sit it on. "Does that statue match what you were going for?" "But I thought you guys-" Prince Robert's broken off question was almost unable to be heard since he asked it the same time Prince Avery did. He took the cat from the younger brother to examine it more, giving a nod. "That looks great," He told the younger one. He was still confused to what he was going to ask before he held out the cat. He was even more confused by the disgusted expression of horror. He couldn't figure out why the princes would look that way. "Cassandra, do you have any rustic gold mirrors?" He turned to find his friend staring at all three of them with her mouth open and eyes full of shock. She seemed to snap out of it when he spoke, moving out from behind the counter to give a bow toward the royal members. "Y-Your highnesses. What a pleasant surprise," She spoke before gesturing for them to follow her. He fell into step beside her and all of a sudden he felt a pinch to his arm. "Ow!" He whispered, flinching away from her,"What did you do that for?" "How dare you not tell me about your guests! I dropped everything to follow you to fulfill your dreams in this god for saken town. The least you could have done was mention you were here with royalty before I made a fool of myself in front of them," She hissed toward him. "I'm sorry but this job was just as surprising to me as it is to you," He whispered back as she lead them toward the mirror spot,"You know how much this means to me, having a once in a lifetime opportunity like this." "I suppose so. At least the older one is cute. Maybe you can impress him and have little gay babies with him one day-however that works for you," Cassandra whispered back. A heavy blush appeared on his face as they arrived to the mirror section. |
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Darkseeker
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Avery had followed the woman's vague directions, and found himself in a the mirror section. He winced. He hated seeing himself in the mirror in general, but this was worse, when he wasn't dressed how he preferred to be. He hesitated, running his fingers down the edge of a large, gilt mirror, and scanning the slightly clouded surface. He wondered why Aspen and his...whatever she was hadn't shown up yet. He decided to assume the best, and believe that he was just explaining why he'd brought royalty to the smaller end store. Robbie tapped his shoulder, and he turned, cracking up when he saw what his brother was holding. It was a nice mirror, but the frame was hysterical. It showed some kind of hunting scene, supposedly made so it looked like it was carved, but it just made it look like plastic. Fakey little cherubs literally dangled from the mirror, their golden trumpets swinging.
The two boys were laughing so hard that they had to lean against a wall that wasn't covered with mirrors, trying to catch their breaths. Pink cheeked and eyes sparkling, Avery turned back to the mirrors in time to see Aspen and the girl slink into the section, Aspens cheeks redder than Avery's were.
Avery didn't want to look his brother in the eye, knowing he'd loose it again, and instead tried to fix his face, and smile at the woman. "You have a lovely shop," he said, cheerily. |
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Neutral
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When Aspen and Cassandra arrived, the princes were already there. They were laughing over some sort of mirror. The sound of their laughter even sounded out of place and elegant somehow. Once the blush from his cheeks faded a little, He moved to get a good look at what they were laughing at. It was a mirror that screamed country folk and resembled more the place he ran away from to start a business here. Giving a chuckle, he took the mirror from Prince Robert and set it off to the side. "I don't think that mirror matches the elegance of the castle, or the two of you," He chuckled again and shook his head,"Although I would love to see you try to master an aesthetic such as that one. After all, you did do well with trying to dress more like me and less than royalty today." He did look at Prince Avery when he spoke about their appearance. However, Prince Avery was speaking to Cassandra instead. He made a comment about her store. "Why thank you. When I first came to a town like this one, I didn't fit in and I was incredibly homesick. I figured starting up an antique shop would be the perfect way to bring a touch of home into my life," She gave a nod of gratitude before glancing at the mirror Aspen had put away,"Yes, even that god-awful mirror still resembles home." Aspen turned his back, looking through the mirrors to try to see if he could find a better mirror for the castle walls. He figured a mirror would be a perfect way to make the hall more welcoming and modern-while still keeping the vintage style that the castle was known for. "Hmm, Prince Avery would you like to give me an extra hand with these mirrors. You know your wing better than anyone and I would love to have your opinion on choosing the right one," Aspin called, finding multiple gold mirrors that might look good in the wing. While Aspen was looking for mirrors, Cassandra turned to the younger prince. She gave him a friendly smile,"Would you like to see something really special and secret? Some of the items in this store, they glow if you shine a special kind of light on them. I would be honored to show you some of these items." |
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Darkseeker
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Avery glanced over his shoulder as he walked towards Aspen, trying to gauge his brother's response to the woman's offer. He smiled to himself as he watched Robbie's eyes widen, and he started after her. "They actually GLOW?" He heard his brother say, right before the two turned, and he couldn't quite catch anymore of the conversation. He walked slowly down the aisle, trying to not look in any of the mirrors, and keep the awkwardness out of the conversation. Finally, he was standing next to Aspen. He hadn't really been thinking about where he was standing, being used to standing on Robbie's personal space in case he had to shut him him up.
Now, he was standing so their shoulders almost brushed, and would, if someone moved in certain ways. He shoved the awkward thoughts out of his mind, as well as some new, strange thoughts. Why did he care if they almost touched shoulders, or if Aspens hair looked nice?
He scanned the mirrors Aspen pointed out, and studied each one of them, trying to ignore his reflection. "God, I look awful," he muttered, scowling at one, and running a hand through his hair. He knew that Aspen was probably going to be very confused about the comment, but everyone has their own weird irrational dislike, right? |
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Neutral
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Aspen wondered exactly what Cassandra was up to. Something told him it had something to do with the gay baby comment earlier. He was proven right when he looked up to watch the two of them leave and she gave him a wink. Of course the crazy straight woman would try to find a way to leave him and the prince alone together. The woman had been playing match-maker for him since his school days. Aspen turned his gaze away from them and moved each mirror that he was considering right next to each other. One had a border of golden roses which he personally thought might appear too feminine for the south wing. The next one was a simple fat gold border, the next had golden swirls, and the last one had a straight border that would curl upwards into a spiral at the top and bottom corners. He stepped to the side to look at Prince Avery but accidentally stepped into the prince's side by mistake. He didn't realize that the prince was standing so close to him. Whispering his apologies and feeling awkward, he moved so he wasn't touching the prince's side. However, they were still standing shoulder to shoulder and their shoulders could easily touch if one of them moved...wait what was he thinking? It was no doubt that the prince was attractive but he also knew better than anyone that he better not crush on this one because there was no way he would ever feel the same way. "God, I look awful." Aspen frowned at that comment, his gaze resting on the reflection of the prince and him standing together on the spiral mirror. The reflection of the prince's was everything but awful. "Nonsense!" He told the prince, with a shake of his head. He lowered his voice a little so the guards couldn't hear and added,"What happened to that cocky prince that tried to flirt with me on day one? The one that knew he had good looks and wasn't afraid to use them to his advantage?" |
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Darkseeker
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Avery sighed, and turned slightly, so only half his profile was reflected back at him. "He's off trying to sort out why he's such a prick, and seeing if he can work out my problems." The raw emotion in his voice startled him, and he stared at his hands for just a moment.
Avery was internally dying. It was bad enough that he'd been bored enough to flirt, but even worse that Aspen had seen right through him, and was bringing it up now.
And then earlier with Robbie when he'd started asking that stupid question. "But I thought you guys-were gonna be together." He could already see the question brewing in his brother, he'd seen it ever since the two of them had walked into the wing the first day, when he'd used that stupid nickname. Avery turned back to the mirror. "I hate seeing myself," he said softly, studying his own grey eyes staring back at him.
It had been that way ever since he was little. He hated pictures of himself, he hated sitting for portraits, he hated looking in the mirror. His parents had assumed he just didn't like sitting still when he was smaller, and he was able to hide his distaste the older he got.
Every time he looked in a mirror, he was reminded that he wasn't like everyone else, never would be like anyone else. He didn't mind his Royal status like Robbie did, but the two had never really had any real friends besides each other.
He slipped away from his thoughts, and slid his fingers down the last mirror's frame, the spirals cool under his fingers. "I like this one," he said, still quietly, subdued by his memories and thoughts. |
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Neutral
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"He's off trying to sort out why he's such a prick, and seeing if he can work out my problems." Aspen was left speechless at the prince's statement. It wasn't one that he suspected to hear. Not by the way the prince had been so bold to flirt with him. Not the way the prince walked. He always had such of a purpose and confidence to his stance. Now Aspen was seeing how that purpose and confidence just faded when the prince was around a mirror. Worse of all, he didn't know what to do or say, seeing this side of the prince. He had just assumed that Prince Avery knew his own self-worth-especially with the way he presented himself. The man might have been a horrible actor when it came to flirting but maybe the biggest role he was playing was appearing important for the whole town. He was knocked out of his thoughts when he heard Orince Avery speak again about which mirror he liked. When he looked, he see. the prince slide his fingers around the frame. He approached him and gave a light smile. "I think that one is going to look great in the castle. I like it too," He stated, hesitating for a moment before reaching one of his hands out and placing it on the other man's shoulder. "I know I haven't been the most welcoming toward you but if you would ever like to talk...I tend to be a great listener," He squeezed his shoulder before grabbing the mirror,"Truth be told, I spend every moment of every day stressing about this job and making sure my behavior reflects formality and etiquette. You see, when you barely have anything, messing up a job like this ruins more than just your reputation." |
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Darkseeker
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Avery gave him a wavery smile, and considered his words. "I...know my problems are much lesser than everyone else's. But it's hard to keep a mask up all the time," he said softly. He shook his head, trying to find himself again, just in time too, as Robbie came clumping around the corner, wearing a ridiculous old fashioned derby hat, and holding a...what was that? Avery leaned forward to see it, and his mouth dropped open when it clicked. "Where did you find a live kitten?" He asked in surprise. Robbie was grinning, and looked highly pleased with himself. The kitten lay comfortably sprawled on his arms, already at ease. "We were in the back, and we heard something going around in the dumpster! And we opened the door, and there he was! I can keep him, right Avey? Pleasseeee?" Avery sighed, and carefully scanned the kitten, running his fingers through its fur, and checking its ears.
"It looks pretty healthy...I guess you can keep it. We'll have to take it to get some shots and stuff though." Robbie was ecstatic, and started to dance around the aisles with a grin. Avery sighed, but he was smiling.
"Do we need anything else from here?" He asked, very politely, now that there were other people around. |
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Summer 
Day Weather: 
Earthquake
